Worcester eyes gunshot sensors

Friday

Sep 13, 2013 at 9:56 AM

By Nick Kotsopoulos, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — The advisory committee charged with recommending ways to spend mitigation funding the city is receiving from the CSX freight yard expansion project is looking into possibly using some of that money for an acoustic surveillance system to assist police in combating gun violence.

The technology, known as "ShotSpotter," uses acoustic sensors that are deployed in targeted neighborhoods where gun violence is a problem.

In addition to detecting the sound of gunfire, the sensors are paired with software that can analyze the sounds in real time and pinpoint the location from which each round was fired, as well as determine how many shots were fired, what direction they were fired and the type of weapon used.

And if the gunfire was from a drive-by shooting, it could even detect what direction the vehicle was traveling and where it was heading.

The sensors are set up on high structures, such as light poles and rooftops. The data collected from them is fed to an incident review center in California operated by the vendor (SST Inc.) of the system.

Personnel at that center review the gunfire data and then would send the qualified alert to the Police Department's Real Time Crime Center and officers in the field, allowing them to determine the safest and fastest tactical response.

The technology also has the capability of being linked to surveillance cameras in the area, thus enabling police to position those cameras toward the location of the shots.

"From a police perspective, this system is tremendous," said Police Capt. Paul Saucier. "When we get calls about shots being fired, they are often described as coming from a general area. Our officers often have no information going to that call. With this system, police officers would have a more direct location as to where the shots were fired and other important information about the incident."

Vincent A. Pedone, vice chairman of the CSX Neighborhood Advisory Committee, said he was originally considering recommending that some of the mitigation money be used to help the city purchase a bomb sniffing dog for the Police Department.

When he discussed that possibility with police officials, Mr. Pedone said they brought to his attention the ShotSpotter system. After doing some research into it, he said he firmly believes it would be a valuable crime-fighting tool for the Police Department.

"It would absolutely be a phenomenal help to our Police Department and for that reason I think we should think about directing some (CSX) funding to help secure our neighborhoods," Mr. Pedone said. "This CSX money can do more than just beautify neighborhoods or put planters out on the streets; it can do a lot more to improve safety."

Deputy Police Chief Mark Roche said the ShotSpotter technology would enable police to respond rapidly and more effectively to gunfire incidents, even ones that aren't called in.

"The Worcester Police Department is committed to addressing violent crimes, especially gun violence," he said. "But for us to be truly successful, we need to mobilize the entire community. And to combat gun violence, we need to keep up with the technology that is available."

Jack Pontious, director of the Northeast Region for SST Inc., said the ShotSpotter technology is employed in more than 80 communities nationwide, including Boston, Springfield, Brockton, Fall River and New Bedford.

In Boston, he said the sound surveillance technology is being used in a 7-square-mile area, and city officials there are getting ready to double the size of that footprint. He said his company's largest deployment is in Washington, D.C., where it covers a 20-square-mile area.

In Nassau County, N.Y., which has had the ShotSpotter system in place for three years, police officials there recently reported that gunfire incidents in the zone where the audio surveillance is deployed has dropped by 90 percent.

"This system has proven to provide a deterrent effect over time," Mr. Pontious said. "It also gives police officers information they never had before when they go to a call involving gun shots. We have found that only 20 percent of gunfire incidents get called into police and in some areas the reporting rate is closer to 10 percent."

For Worcester, surveillance zones would be established in two, 3-square-mile zones, with a focus on those East Side neighborhoods — Grafton Hill, Union Hill and Vernon Hill — where gunfire has been a particular problem.

Mr. Pontious said the cost to operate the system in each 3-square-mile zone would be roughly $175,000 per year, or $415,000 in each zone over a three-year period.

The agreement allowing CSX to expand its freight yard between Shrewsbury and Franklin streets calls for it to provide $5 million to the city divided into two categories: $1 million as an open space donation and $4 million as a community investment donation.

Of that $4 million, $3 million is earmarked for aquatics facilities at Cristoforo Colombo Park or Holmes Field, while the remaining $1 million is to be divided equally ($333,000) between three districts, Shrewsbury Street, Grafton Hill and the Canal District.

The money available to those districts could be as high as $2 million — more than $660,000 each — because the city can bond some of the neighborhood improvement projects over time using "gate fees" assessed to each container that enters the CSX yard.

Over the next 20 years, the city expects to receive more than $1 million from those fees.

Paul P. Clancy Jr., chairman of the advisory committee, said using some of the CSX money to purchase the surveillance technology is something worthy of consideration.

But before anything is decided, Mr. Clancy said he would like additional information regarding the cost of the system and where specifically it would be deployed.

He also made it clear that if the committee is going to recommend the use of CSX mitigation money for the acoustic surveillance system, each of the three districts eligible for the funding would have to agree to share the cost equally.